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Email and how to avoid spam:
How to manage your inbox, reduce spam and avoid viruses
So, you've survived the journey into work, made yourself a coffee, opened your email, and, Oh my god what happened! Yes that's right everyone in the world has written to you, or at least that's how it feels. You spend the next hour wading through offers for free gifts, great business opportunities and questionable adult sites. All of which are not helping you find that one email from a new customer confirming their first order. Sounds familiar? well your not alone. Dealing with spam has become one of the hot topics. The questions we get asked time and time again are: Where does it come from? How did they get my address?. Spam is a huge problem and one which really threatens email as a viable communication tool. So lets have a look at why it exists, who sends it, and how to minimise your exposure to it.
| Email sent per day: |
31 million |
| Email sent per day per person |
56 |
| Email Addresses per person |
3 |
| Percentage of email that is spam |
40% |
| Spam email per day |
12.4 billion |
| Users who reply to spam |
28% |
| Users who purchase |
8% |
How does spam work - why is it used?
No matter who the sender is, all unsolicited email is basically trying to sell you something one way or another. That's why most people quite rightly just dispatch it to the recycle bin without hesitation. However, some people will read it and some of those people will buy the product or service on offer. The reality is that email shots are cheap to send and at the end of the day they do actually produce sales. So spam is hear to stay, its going to be a fact of life just as much as the sound of the postman dropping a sack load of free pizza delivery flyers on your door mat each morning. The question is how can you minimise the amount that you receive or at least make sure you only get that which is of interest to you.
How are email address gathered
For spam to be sent the first thing that is needed is your email address. This can be acquired in several ways.
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You give it out - When you fill in a form on a web site, be sure that your really want to give out your email address. You could always phone the company instead. Also look out for tick boxes that sign you up for email marketing list. Companies will often sell on your email address.
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Emails you send - all emails are available to be read by anyone. They are basically just like sending a postcard - any one can see who sent it and to whom.
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Your website - If you have your email address on your companies website then it will be added to spam lists.
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By chance - Yes sometimes they just guess it. If your companies website is www. yourcompany.com then its a reasonable assumption that you might have an email address like sales@www.yourcompany.com or info@www.yourcompany.com. If you reply, bounce or even preview any such email then they know that the address is correct.
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Viruses - Some viruses will gather email addresses from your machine so make sure your machine is protected.
Email as a communication tool
The use of email has grown exponentially. What started off as a techies tool has become one of the most significant communication tools ever. The problem is that it is often inappropriately used. So much damage can be done to relationships by sending an email for something that should have been said face to face be it in a meeting or whilst standing round the coffee machine. As a guide, email should be used to either confirm details of a previous conversation e.g. minutes of a meeting, or convey detailed information for consideration prior to a conversation e.g., technical specifications or contracts.
Things to do...
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Have multiple email addresses - one for private use only, one for general use, and one for public use.
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Avoid giving out your email address.
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Avoid adult or questionable sites.
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Insure your virus protection is up to date - this should be done every day.
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Use email filter software such as MailWasher.
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Use Filters within your email software to automatically bin spam.
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Turn off your preview pane in your email software.
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Be street wise! look for the angle in any spam you receive.
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